The Poem of Evan
by Skiltch
Summary: Evan's back with a tale to tell... a tale of terror. Completed.
1. Default Chapter

AN: Well, let's see how this works. Love this poem.

Disclaimer: Don't own X-men Evo. Or The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner. 

There was a knock on the mansion door.

"I'll get it." Scott, leader of the X-men, entered the front hall and moved towards the door. He expected to see the mailman, maybe Amanda, or one of the numerous inspectors that had been sent by the FBI.

Instead, he saw three of the members of the Brotherhood.

Scott narrowed his eyes. "What do you want? And where is Pietro?"

Lance raised his hands. "Chill. We want to talk with Xavier."

Scott said, "Well, you can't."

"Yes we can."

"No you can't."

"Yes we can."

_Scott, please send the Brotherhood to my office immediately._

Scott sighed. "Yes Professor. You three come with me."

***

Kurt stood outside Xavier's door as he waited for the Professor to finish talking to the Brotherhood. From the few snippets that he had heard, it sounded like the Brotherhood actually wanted to join the X-men, but it was of course going very badly. Of course, since Kurt could only hear about half of what was spoken, the mutants in the study could be discussing anything from Iraq to cheese flavors. 

"Hey man."

Kurt turned… and saw Evan Daniels, the latest subtraction from the X-men, standing in the hallway behind him.

"Evan…"

Evan looked at Kurt. "We need to talk."

"But Evan! You're back! We have to tell everyone, Storm has been wanting to see you so badly

--"

"This is more important."

Kurt stopped, startled. "What?"

Evan gestured to a couch. "Sit. We need to talk."

__

It is an ancient Mariner,

And he stoppeth one of three.

"By thy long beard and glittering eye,

Now wherefore stopp'st thou me?

"The Bridegroom's doors are opened wide,

And I am next of kin;

The guests are met, the feast is set:

May'st hear the merry din."

He holds him with his skinny hand.

"There was a ship," quoth he.

"Hold off! Unhand me, gray-beard loon!" 

Eftsoons his hand dropt he. 

He holds him with his glittering eye--  
The Wedding-Guest stood still,  
And listens like a three years' child:  
The Mariner hath his will.

The Wedding-Guest sat on a stone:  
He cannot chuse but hear;  
And thus spake on that ancient man,  
The bright-eyed Mariner. 

Evan talked slowly. "I was with the Morlocks about two weeks ago on a foraging mission when Magneto captured us. Things had been going very well, but one of our contacts ratted us out, and we were overpowered. The next thing any of us knew was that we were in his lair and about to become his unwilling test subjects."

__

'The ship was cheered, the harbour cleared,  
Merrily did we drop  
Below the kirk, below the hill,  
Below the lighthouse top. 

The Sun came up upon the left,  
Out of the sea came he!  
And he shone bright, and on the right  
Went down into the sea. 

Higher and higher every day,  
Till over the mast at noon--'  
The Wedding-Guest here beat his breast,  
For he heard the loud bassoon. 

Kurt looked up as Jean walked into the room. "Kurt, the game's on in about five minutes, don't you want to watch?"

Kurt looked at her. "No thanks. I'll be just a minute." He thought about telling her that Evan, who was now hiding behind the couch in the hallway, was back, but decided that Evan would have already revealed his presence if he had wanted to.

Jean nodded. "See you then."

Once Jean left, Evan got back up and continued with his story like nothing had happened.

__

The bride hath paced into the hall,  
Red as a rose is she;  
Nodding their heads before her goes  
The merry minstrelsy. 

The Wedding-Guest he beat his breast,  
Yet he cannot chuse but hear;  
And thus spake on that ancient man,  
The bright-eyed Mariner. 

"It was terrible." spoke Evan. "He put us in treatments that tortured us beyond what we knew we could feel. I still don't know what he was doing, but I have much pity for whoever must undergo what we felt."

__

And now the Storm-blast came, and he  
Was tyrannous and strong:  
He struck with his o'ertaking wings,  
And chased us south along

. 

With sloping masts and dipping prow,  
As who pursued with yell and blow  
Still treads the shadow of his foe,  
And forward bends his head,  
The ship drove fast, loud roared the blast,  
And southward aye we fled. 

And now there came both mist and snow,  
And it grew wondrous cold:  
And ice, mast-high, came floating by,  
As green as emerald. 

"We gave up all hope of rescue after the first day. His attacks were complete, physical pain, emotional pain, psychological pain. We didn't know what to do."

__

And through the drifts the snowy clifts  
Did send a dismal sheen:  
Nor shapes of men nor beasts we ken--  
The ice was all between. 

The ice was here, the ice was there,  
The ice was all around:  
It cracked and growled, and roared and howled,  
Like noises in a swound! 

"Finally, during one of our rest periods, our most unlikely rescuer came along. Tabitha."

Kurt blinked. "So that's where she's been! She's been missing since… yeah, about a week ago. Where is she now?"

Evan sighed.

__

At length did cross an Albatross,  
Thorough the fog it came;  
As if it had been a Christian soul,  
We hailed it in God's name. 

It ate the food it ne'er had eat,  
And round and round it flew.  
The ice did split with a thunder-fit;  
The helmsman steered us through! 

"She undoubtedly saved us. She somehow managed to steal the keys to our cells, and she led us through some of the underground complex. We were doing well… then I screwed up."

__

And a good south wind sprung up behind;  
The Albatross did follow,  
And every day, for food or play,  
Came to the mariners' hollo! 

In mist or cloud, on mast or shroud,  
It perched for vespers nine;  
Whiles all the night, through fog-smoke white,  
Glimmered the white Moon-shine.' 

"I didn't trust her." Evan's voice broke. "I thought she was just letting us out for her own selfish purposes, or maybe to lead us to Mystique, or for some other unfathomable reason. At one point, we were near a conference room or something. I heard chatter from Pyro and Gambit, and I thought she had betrayed us. I ordered her to go away. She refused."

Kurt looked at his friend. "Evan, what's wrong? Did you all get recaptured?"

"I took a spike and stabbed her."

__

[Wedding-Guest]'God save thee, ancient Mariner!  
From the fiends, that plague thee thus!--  
Why look'st thou so?'-[Mariner]-'With my cross-bow  
I shot the Albatross.' 


	2. Part 2

Kurt looked at Evan in shock. "You vat?"

"I stabbed her. She gasped and died. It was very quick. And stupid." Evan's haunted eyes spoke for themselves.

"Vat happened next?"

"For a while, we made good progress through the dungeon. But the others knew that we would eventually take a wrong turn. They were all mad at me, although the only one to say so was Calavan."

THE Sun now rose upon the right:  
Out of the sea came he,  
Still hid in mist, and on the left  
Went down into the sea. 

And the good south wind still blew behind,  
But no sweet bird did follow,  
Nor any day for food or play  
Came to the mariners' hollo! 

And I had done a hellish thing,  
And it would work 'em woe:  
For all averred, I had killed the bird  
That made the breeze to blow.  
Ah wretch! said they, the bird to slay,  
That made the breeze to blow! 

Evan said, "Then things seemed to be improving. We found several shortcuts that got us closer to what we thought was the exit, shortcuts that Tabitha should have found. They began to thank me, not curse me, for slaying her."

__

Nor dim nor red like God's own head,  
The glorious Sun uprist:  
Then all averred, I had killed the bird  
That brought the fog and mist.  
'Twas right, said they, such birds to slay,  
That bring the fog and mist. 

The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew,  
The furrow followed free;  
We were the first that ever burst  
Into that silent sea. 

"Then… we really got in trouble."

Kurt saw his best friend's face droop. "Evan, vat happened?"

Evan didn't speak for a minute, so Kurt draped his hand over the spiky teen's shoulder. "You're going to za infirmary, mein freund" Kurt's slip into German was evident of his seriousness. "You need a rest and medical attention."

Evan shook him off. "Xavier and Mr. McCoy won't understand. I need to tell you. We got lost. We were wandering the corridors aimlessly, searching frantically for some way out. You have no idea how many times we excitedly found a new corridor, only to learn that it was just a corridor back to the center of the maze we were in."

__

Down dropt the breeze, the sails dropt down,  
'Twas sad as sad could be;  
And we did speak only to break  
The silence of the sea! 

All in a hot and copper sky,  
The bloody Sun, at noon,  
Right up above the mast did stand,  
No bigger than the Moon. 

Day after day, day after day,  
We stuck, nor breath nor motion;  
As idle as a painted ship  
Upon a painted ocean. 

"We had plenty of food, but we ran low on water almost immediately. I know your high metabolism makes you more sensitive to your needs of food and drink, but you've never been as thirsty as we were in that dungeon. What made it absolutely unbearable was that slime coated the walls, looking to all the world like a refreshing liquid--"

Kurt gagged.

Evan smiled and continued. "See, you don't understand. But that slime was poisonous or something, as evidenced by my vomiting when I licked some. Perhaps Magneto did that to torture us, who knows? We must have wandered in there for five days."

__

Water, water, every where,  
And all the boards did shrink;  
Water, water, every where,  
Nor any drop to drink. 

The very deep did rot: it did  
That ever this should be!  
Yea, slimy things did crawl with legs  
Upon the slimy sea. 

"Calavan began to hallucinate. He dreamed of fire and pain… and of Tabitha. He said that she was speaking to him in dreams, and that she was very mad at us. He was probably hallucinating… but I don't know."

__

About, about, in reel and rout  
The death-fires danced at night;  
The water, like a witch's oils,  
Burnt green, and blue and white. 

And some in dreams assur'ed were  
Of the Spirit that plagued us so;  
Nine fathom deep he had followed us  
From the land of mist and snow. 

"The thirst was terrible, Kurt. The pain… it was agony."

Kurt said, "But you all survived. Right?"

Evan ignored the question and said, "We could barely speak, but the anger at me was almost palatable. 

__

And every tongue, through utter drought,  
Was withered at the root;  
We could not speak, no more than if  
We had been choked with soot. 

Ah! well a-day! what evil looks  
Had I from old and young!  
Instead of the cross, the Albatross  
About my neck was hung.


	3. Part 3

The Professor looked at the three boys. "I am telling you, my answer is no!"

"You're not even listening to us," accused Lance Alvers, a.k.a. Avalanche.

"You are correct. I am not. I am tired of your lies and deceptions. Get out." 

Lance again tried to reason with the wheelchair-bound man. "Sir, you've been trying to get us away from Magneto for weeks. You were trying as of last week. And now that we finally put our lives in danger by coming here, you say no?!"

"My students must be shown that there is a consequence to their actions. You have turned down chance after chance and are now left high and dry. Go back to Magneto."

"But sir…" The two debated as Fred and Todd looked on uneasily.

***

Evan continued to tell his tale. "We had almost given up hope. Scratch that, we had definitely given up hope. I was seriously debating skewering myself on a spike once we stopped for the night… but then we heard one of Magneto's jeeps heading down a hallway somewhere near us. We were so eager to be found that we just stopped. Since we couldn't yell, we just silently prayed for the jeep to find us.

THERE passed a weary time. Each throat  
Was parched, and glazed each eye.  
A weary time! a weary time!  
How glazed each weary eye,

  
When looking westward, I beheld  
A something in the sky. 

At first it seemed a little speck,  
And then it seemed a mist;  
It moved and moved, and took at last  
A certain shape, I wist. 

A speck, a mist, a shape, I wist!  
And still it neared and neared:  
As if it dodged a water-sprite,  
It plunged and tacked and veered. 

With throats unslaked, with black lips baked,  
We could nor laugh nor wail;  
Through utter drought all dumb we stood!  
I bit my arm, I sucked the blood,  
And cried, A sail! a sail! 

With throats unslaked, with black lips baked,  
Agape they heard me call:  
Gramercy! they for joy did grin  
And all at once their breath drew in,  
As they were drinking all. 

"The jeep approached us, and eventually turned down our passage. We were thrilled."

__

See! see! (I cried) she tacks no more!  
Hither to work us weal;  
Without a breeze, without a tide,  
She steadies with upright keel! 

The western wave was all a-flame.  
The day was well nigh done!  
Almost upon the western wave  
Rested the broad bright Sun;

  
When that strange shape drove suddenly  
Betwixt us and the Sun. 

And straight the Sun was flecked with bars,  
(Heaven's Mother send us grace!)  
As if through a dungeon-grate he peered  
With broad and burning face. 

"Then we noticed the passengers. Gambit was the first one. He had traded in his characteristic cape and staff for a black cloak and a scythe. He looked like the Grim Reaper. The second was a girl."

__

Alas! (thought I, and my heart beat loud)  
How fast she nears and nears!  
Are those her sails that glance in the Sun,  
Like restless gossameres? 

Are those her ribs through which the Sun  
Did peer, as through a grate?  
And is that Woman all her crew?  
Is that a DEATH? and are there two?  
Is DEATH that woman's mate?

"It was Scarlet Witch."

__

Her lips were red, her looks were free,  
Her locks were yellow as gold:  
Her skin was as white as leprosy,  
The Night-mare Life-in-Death was she,  
Who thicks man's blood with cold. 

"They were gambling, as Gambit is wont to do. We saw Wanda roll the dice, and heard Gambit curse. Wanda laughed and hit a control in the jeep. The lights went out."

__

The naked hulk alongside came,  
And the twain were casting dice;  
'The game is done! I've won! I've won!'  
Quoth she, and whistles thrice. 

The Sun's rim dips; the stars rush out:  
At one stride comes the dark;  
With far-heard whisper, o'er the sea,  
Off shot the spectre-bark. 

We listened and looked sideways up!  
Fear at my heart, as at a cup,  
My life-blood seemed to sip!  
The stars were dim, and thick the night,  
The steersman's face by his lamp gleamed white;  
From the sails the dew did drip—

  
Till clomb above the eastern bar  
The horn'ed Moon, with one bright star  
Within the nether tip. 

"Gambit shrugged, and he and Wanda raised their hands. Our feet were glued to the floor by the slime or something, because of Wanda's probability power. Gambit tossed his cards. Before they hit, the others are looked at me, and I almost fell over from their hatred, and my deserving of it."

Kurt said, "But ze didn't--"

"They did." Evan's voice cracked. "The cards hit. Everyone but me died. And Gambit and Scarlet Witch drove off."

__

One after one, by the star-dogged Moon,  
Too quick for groan or sigh,  
Each turned his face with a ghastly pang,  
And cursed me with his eye. 

Four times fifty living men,  
(And I heard nor sigh nor groan)  
With heavy thump, a lifeless lump,  
They dropped down one by one. 

The souls did from their bodies fly,--  
They fled to bliss or woe!  
And every soul, it passed me by,  
Like the whizz of my cross-bow! 


	4. Part 4

Kurt pulled back from his spiky friend. "Evan, no more arguing. You need help. You're going to za infirmary right away."

Evan put his hands on Kurt's shoulders. "Don't go! I have to tell you this."

"Ve can talk in za hospital wing!" 

"No we can't!" Evan pushed Kurt down. "I told you, you're the only one who will understand. Listen to me."

__

(Wedding-Guest)'I FEAR thee, ancient Mariner!  
I fear thy skinny hand!  
And thou art long, and lank, and brown,  
As is the ribbed sea-sand. 

I fear thee and thy glittering eye,  
And thy skinny hand, so brown.'-(Mariner)-  
Fear not, fear not, thou Wedding-Guest!  
This body dropt not down. 

"I was alone in Magneto's dungeons, certain that he was leaving me to rot. The dungeons were horrible."

__

Alone, alone, all, all alone,  
Alone on a wide wide sea!  
And never a saint took pity on  
My soul in agony. 

The many men, so beautiful!  
And they all dead did lie:  
And a thousand thousand slimy things  
Lived on; and so did I.

"I was in agony. I couldn't get out, I couldn't get back to my cell… I couldn't even pray to God because of my guilt."

__

I looked upon the rotting sea,  
And drew my eyes away  
I looked upon the rotting deck,  
And there the dead men lay

I looked to Heaven, and tried to pray;  
But or ever a prayer had gusht,  
A wicked whisper came, and made  
My heart as dry as dust. 

Kurt looked at his friend with great concern. "Are you sure that you don't want to see the Professor?"

Evan nodded. "It got to where I could barely walk or move my eyes. I eventually found my way back to the bodies of my friends… which were somehow preserved."

__

I closed my lids, and kept them close,  
And the balls like pulses beat;  
For the sky and the sea, and the sea and the sky  
Lay like a load on my weary eye,

  
And the dead were at my feet. 

The cold sweat melted from their limbs,  
Nor rot nor reek did they:  
The look with which they looked on me  
Had never passed away. 

"I saw the anger in Calavan's eyes, in all of their eyes. I almost committed suicide… but I couldn't. I just couldn't. Don't ask me to explain, I can't. I just sat down with the bodies and cried."

__

An orphan's curse would drag to hell  
A spirit from on high;  
But oh! more horrible than that  
Is the curse in a dead man's eye!

Seven days, seven nights saw that curse,  
And yet I could not die.

"I happened to see a group of worms moving on the floor. For some reason I'll never know, they looked so… strangely beautiful."

Kurt couldn't help himself. He laughed.

"You go without seeing life for two days and see what you consider beautiful. Anyway, they were under a great. I saw stars through it, and their light silhouetted the worms."

__

The moving Moon went up the sky,  
And no where did abide:  
Softly she was going up,  
And a star or two beside—

Her beams bemocked the sultry main,  
Like April hoar-frost spread;  
But where the ship's huge shadow lay,  
The charm'ed water burnt alway  
A still and awful red. 

"I watched them."

__

Beyond the shadow of the ship,  
I watched the water-snakes:  
They moved in tracks of shining white  
And when they reared, the elfish light  
Fell off in hoary flakes. 

Within the shadow of the ship  
I watched their rich attire:  
Blue, glossy green, and velvet black,  
Then coiled and swam; and every track  
Was a flash of golden fire. 

"I don't know what came over me… I picked up one and gently hugged it. It felt like, now that I had loved something after my anger, fear, and hate had left, I felt 'whole.' I could even pray again."

__

O happy living things! no tongue  
Their beauty might declare:  
A spring of love gushed from my heart,  
And I blessed them unaware:  
Sure my kind saint took pity on me,  
And I blessed them unaware.

"My guilt left."

__

The self-same moment I could pray;  
And from my neck so free  
The Albatross fell off, and sank  
Like lead into the sea. 


	5. Part 5

Evan said, "After that, I was finally able to have a full sleep. It was… to put it mildly, good."

__

OH sleep! it is a gentle thing,  
Beloved from pole to pole!  
To Mary Queen the praise be given!  
She sent the gentle sleep from Heaven,  
That slid into my soul. 

"When I woke up, and this will sound silly, but I had rolled into another passage… and it led to an underground lake. I finally got a decent drink."

__

The silly buckets on the deck,  
That had so long remained,  
I dreamt that they were filled with dew;  
And when I awoke, it rained.

My lips were wet, my throat was cold,  
My garments all were dank;  
Sure I had drunken in my dreams,  
And still my body drank. 

"I felt light and dreamy after my sleep. I almost thought I had died… but I figured that I would know if I was dead. But then I saw another grate, and through it, I saw the stars. Thin clouds were passing through the sky, and the stars winked prettily." 

__

I moved, and could not feel my limbs:  
I was so light--almost  
I thought that I had died in sleep,  
And was a bless'ed ghost. 

And soon I heard a roaring wind:  
It did not come anear;  
But with its sound it shook the sails,  
That were so thin and sere. 

The upper air burst into life!  
And a hundred fire-flags sheen,  
To and fro they were hurried about!  
And to and fro, and in and out,  
The wan stars danced between. 

And the coming wind did roar more loud,  
And the sails did sigh like sedge;  
And the rain poured down from one black cloud;  
The Moon was at its edge. 

"Thunder and lighting struck above, and by the lightning's light, I saw that the bolts on the grate were loose. I unbolted them and was free… and I found myself in an ocean of sand. Magneto's base was in the Arizona desert."

Kurt winced. "Zat must have been terrible."

"Not more terrible than the rest of my adventure."

__

The thick black cloud was cleft, and still  
The Moon was at its side:  
Like waters shot from some high crag,  
The lightning fell with never a jag,  
A river steep and wide. 

"As I staggered forth, I saw… Calavan."

"But you said he was dead!"

"He was!"

Kurt's brows deepened. "Xavier says… zat Magneto has been trying to find some way to mechanize za bodies of za dead. If he's perfected it… zere won't be a way to beat him unless we kill all of zem at once…"

"But Magneto wouldn't use his device to help me… he wanted me back, I'm sure."

__

The loud wind never reached the ship,  
Yet now the ship moved on!  
Beneath the lightning and the Moon  
The dead men gave a groan. 

They groaned, they stirred, they all uprose,  
Nor spake, nor moved their eyes;  
It had been strange, even in a dream,  
To have seen those dead men rise. 

"They helped me. Wordlessly, they steered me in the right direction, led me to streams, found me food."

__

The helmsman steered, the ship moved on;  
Yet never a breeze up-blew;  
The mariners all 'gan work the ropes,  
Where they were wont to do;  
They raised their limbs like lifeless tools--  
We were a ghastly crew. 

The body of my brother's son  
Stood by me, knee to knee:  
The body and I pulled at onrope,  
But he said nought to me. 

"Evan… mein freund… you need help."

Evan slapped Kurt's hand away. "Would you stop that? You never accepted pity, and I won't either."

"Then why are you here?!" Kurt rose angrily.   
Kurt grabbed Kurt and gently pushed him back down. "To warn you."

__

(Wedding-Guest) 'I fear thee, ancient Mariner!'  
(Mariner) Be calm, thou Wedding-Guest!  
'Twas not those souls that fled in pain,  
Which to their corses came again,  
But a troop of spirits blest: 

For when it dawned--they dropped their arms,  
And clustered round the mast;  
Sweet sounds rose slowly through their mouths,  
And from their bodies passed. 

"When the morning rose… they began to sing to me. They sang beautifully."

"Magneto has built the device better zan we thought."

"I said, I don't think it was Magneto. But anyway, the music was beautiful."

__

Around, around, flew each sweet sound,  
Then darted to the Sun;  
Slowly the sounds came back again,  
Now mixed, now one by one. 

Sometimes a-dropping from the sky  
I heard the sky-lark sing;  
Sometimes all little birds that are,  
How they seemed to fill the sea and air  
With their sweet jargoning! 

And now 'twas like all instruments,  
Now like a lonely flute;  
And now it is an angel's song,  
That makes the heavens be mute. 

"We kept moving, and yet there were no signs. I don't know how whoever was moving the bodies of my friends knew where they were going.

__

It ceased; yet still the sails made on  
A pleasant noise till noon,  
A noise like of a hidden brook  
In the leafy month of June,

That to the sleeping woods all night  
Singeth a quiet tune. 

Till noon we quietly sailed on,  
Yet never a breeze did breathe:  
Slowly and smoothly went the Ship,  
Moved onward from beneath. 

Under the keel nine fathom deep,  
From the land of mist and snow,  
The spirit slid: and it was he  
That made the ship to go.

  
The sails at noon left off their tune,  
And the ship stood still also. 

The Sun, right up above the mast,  
Had fixed her to the ocean:

"Suddenly, they all stopped and fell down. We were at the edge of a city… Phoenix. I swooned."

__

  
But in a minute she 'gan stir,  
With a short uneasy motion--  
Backwards and forwards half her length  
With a short uneasy motion. 

Then like a pawing horse let go,  
She made a sudden bound:  
It flung the blood into my head,  
And I fell down in a swound. 

"I heard two voices talking. They were behind me, and they sounded familiar, though I didn't know who they were at the time. One didn't think that they should help me anymore. He had liked Tabitha a lot. 

"And ze other?"

"She agreed, but said… that I would also be punished for a long time because of my misdeed."

Kurt cringed.

__

How long in that same fit I lay,  
I have not to declare;  
But ere my living life returned,  
I heard and in my soul discerned  
Two voices in the air. 

'Is it he?' quoth one, 'Is this the man?  
By him who died on cross,  
With his cruel bow he laid full low  
The harmless Albatross. 

The spirit who bideth by himself  
In the land of mist and snow,  
He loved the bird that loved the man  
Who shot him with his bow.' 

The other was a softer voice,  
As soft as honey-dew:  
Quoth he, 'The man hath penance done,  
And penance more will do.' 


	6. Part 6

Xavier's voice rose. "If you boys do not leave within ten minutes, I will call Logan."

Lance balled his hands into fists. _Figures. We actually try to convince this "open minded" Professor to help us and he says no. _

The Professor didn't know that four of the Brotherhood had gone to great risk to save one of the Professor's students, Evan. One of the others had covered for their absence, also at great risk. But Lance wouldn't tell Xavier that. Xavier wouldn't believe him, and he had no way to prove it. So he argued using other methods… but he still remembered being shocked in the desert as he talked with Wanda… he hadn't known how she was moving the bodies until she said that it wasn't her. It was Todd, having hijacked one of Magneto's machines. 

__

First Voice 

'BUT tell me, tell me! speak again,  
They soft response renewing--  
What makes that ship drive on so fast?  
What is the ocean doing?' 

Second Voice 

'Still as a slave before his lord,  
The ocean hath no blast;  
His great bright eye most silently  
Up to the Moon is cast—

If he may know which way to go;  
For she guides him smooth or grim.  
See, brother, see! how graciously  
She looketh down on him.' 

First Voice 

'But why drives on that ship so fast,  
Without or wave or wind?' 

Second Voice  
'The air is cut away before,  
And closes from behind. 

Fly, brother, fly! more high, more high!  
Or we shall be belated:  
For slow and slow that ship will go,  
When the Mariner's trance is abated.' 

It didn't matter. Lance sighed, then continued to attempt to reason with Xavier.

***

"I woke up on the outskirts of town. I collected myself, got up, and saw the bodies. They still looked mad, somehow."

__

I woke, and we were sailing on  
As in a gentle weather:  
'Twas night, calm night, the moon was high;  
The dead men stood together. 

All stood together on the deck,  
For a charnel-dungeon fitter:  
All fixed on me their stony eyes,  
That in the Moon did glitter.

"I saw the anger in their eyes, and once more I felt lost, unable to move, unable to pray, unable to think."

__

The pang, the curse, with which they died,  
Had never passed away:  
I could not draw my eyes from theirs,  
Nor turn them up to pray. 

"After a while, though, it wore off. I walked through the darkened town, looking for an airport, or even a phone booth. I was very nervous."

__

And now this spell was snapt: once more  
I viewed the ocean green,  
And looked far forth, yet little saw  
Of what had else been seen—

Like one, that on a lonesome road  
Doth walk in fear and dread,  
And having once turned round walks on,  
And turns no more his head;  
Because he knows, a frightful fiend  
Doth close behind him tread. 

Evan coughed, then continued. "Suddenly… it was like a miracle. I saw one of my relative's houses."

"I thought Storm vas your only family."

"No, she searched for a while and found some stuff. Another one of my aunts, and two cousins, live in Phoenix. And I saw their house. I almost cried of joy. It felt like something was welcoming me home.

__

But soon there breathed a wind on me,  
Nor sound nor motion made:  
Its path was not upon the sea,  
In ripple or in shade. 

It raised my hair, it fanned my cheek  
Like a meadow-gale of spring--  
It mingled strangely with my fears,  
Yet it felt like a welcoming. 

Swiftly, swiftly flew the ship,  
Yet she sailed softly too:  
Sweetly, sweetly blew the breeze--  
On me alone it blew. 

Oh! dream of joy! is this indeed  
The light-house top I see?  
Is this the hill? is this the kirk?  
Is this mine own countree? 

We drifted o'er the harbour-bar,  
And I with sobs did pray--  
O let me be awake, my God!  
Or let me sleep alway. 

"I jumped and cheered. The bodies stood behind me, silently."

__

The harbour-bay was clear as glass,  
So smoothly it was strewn!  
And on the bay, the moonlight lay,  
And the shadow of the Moon. 

The rock shone bright, the kirk no less,  
That stands above the rock:  
The moonlight steeped in silentness  
The steady, weathercock. 

"Suddenly, a light shown behind me. I swiveled. The bodies had flopped down again… but light was emanating from them. I can't explain how, don't ask me to. But then…"

__

And the bay was white with silent light,  
Till rising from the same,  
Full many shapes, that shadows were,  
In crimson colours came. 

A little distance from the prow  
Those crimson shadows were:  
I turned my eyes upon the deck—

Oh, what saw I there! 

Each corse lay flat, lifeless and flat,  
And, by the holy rood!  
A man all light, a seraph-man,  
On every corse there stood. 

This seraph-band, each waved his hand:  
It was a heavenly, sight!  
They stood as signals to the land,  
Each one a lovely light; 

"They smiled. Even Calavan. They all smiled. Then they vanished."

Kurt looked at Evan strangely. "Okay… do you think it vas their spirits?"

"I said, I don't know. It could have been their spirits, it could have been a hologram. But, suddenly, I felt amazingly happy."

__

This seraph-band, each waved his hand,  
No voice did they impart--  
No voice; but oh! the silence sank  
Like music on my heart. 

"It got better. I heard, from behind me, a group of people."

"Who?"

"It was a team from the Institute! They didn't recognize me, none of them had seen me in my spiky form. I looked like some kind of demon or something to them… but their was Rahne and Forge and Jamie in a little truck."

__

But soon I heard the dash of oars,  
I heard the Pilot's cheer;  
My head was turned perforce away  
And I saw a boat appear. 

The Pilot and the Pilot's boy,  
I heard them coming fast:  
Dear Lord in Heaven! it was a joy  
The dead men could not blast. 

I saw a third-I heard his voice:  
It is the Hermit good!  
He singeth loud his godly hymns  
That he makes in the wood.  
He'll shrieve my soul he'll wash away  
The Albatross's blood. 


	7. Part 7

PART 7   
  
"They approached. They were really a sight for my eyes."   
  
_THIS Hermit good lives in that wood   
Which slopes down to the sea.   
How loudly his sweet voice he rears!   
He loves to talk with marineres   
That come from a far countree.   
  
He kneels at morn, and noon, and eve--   
He hath a cushion plump:   
It is the moss that wholly hides   
The rotted old oak-stump._   
  
"Rahne, said, I recall, 'who's that?' It's to Rahne's and Forge's credit that they didn't run screaming, but the girl was shocked at my beat-up condition and, well, spikyness."   
  
_The skiff-boat neared: I heard them talk,   
'Why, this is strange, I trow!   
Where are those lights so many and fair,   
That signal made but now?'   
  
'Strange, by my faith!' the Hermit said--   
'And they answered not our cheer!   
The planks looked warped! and see those sails,   
How thin they are and sere!   
  
I never saw aught like to them,   
Unless perchance it were   
Brown skeletons of leaves that lag   
My forest-brook along;   
When the ivy-tod is heavy with snow,   
And the owlet whoops to the wolf below,   
That eats the she-wolf's young.'  
_  
"Forge wanted to turn the truck around and run. Fortunately, Rahne stopped him. 'Let's go see!' she said."   
  
_Dear Lord! it hath a fiendish look--   
(The Pilot made reply)   
I am a-feared'--'Push on, push on!'   
Said the Hermit cheerily.   
  
The boat came closer to the ship,   
But I nor spake nor stirred;   
The boat came close beneath the ship,   
And straight a sound was heard.   
  
"My legs just gave out at that point."   
  
Under the water it rumbled on,   
Still louder and more dead:   
It reached the ship, it split the bay;   
The ship went down like lead.   
  
Stunned by that loud and dreadful sound,   
Which sky and ocean smote,   
Like one that hath been seven days drowned   
My body lay afloat.   
But swift as dreams, myself I found   
Within the Pilot's boat.   
_  
"They lifted me up and put me in the truck. They thought I was dead, I'm sure. But I got up, and--"   
"Zey didn't recognize you?"   
"No, they hadn't seen me spikified. Remember, I spiked up and went straight to the Morlocks" Evan choked on the last word. "But anyway, I staggered to my feet. Jamie shrieked and ran behind Rahne, crying out. Forge dropped and prayed in shock. Only Rahne seemed calm."   
  
_Upon the whirl, where sank the ship,   
The boat spun round and round;   
And all was still, save that the hill   
Was telling of the sound.   
  
I moved my lips--the Pilot shrieked   
And fell down in a fit;   
The holy Hermit raised his eyes,   
And prayed where he did sit.   
  
I took the oars: the Pilot's boy,   
Who now doth crazy go,   
Laughed loud and long, and all the while   
His eyes went to and fro.   
'Ha! ha!' quoth he, 'full plain I see,   
The Devil knows how to row.'   
_  
"I cried out to them, 'help me!' And Rahne said, 'who are you?' And I told her. Everything."   
  
_And now, all in my own countree,   
I stood on the firm land!   
The Hermit stepped forth from the boat,   
And scarcely he could stand.   
  
'O shrieve me, shrieve me, holy man!'   
The Hermit crossed his brow.   
'Say quick,' quoth he, 'I bid thee say--   
What manner of man art thou?   
  
Forthwith this frame of mine was wrenched   
With a woful agony,   
Which forced me to begin my tale;   
And then it left me free.   
_  
"I felt clean… but I sometimes feel that I have to tell someone else. Including you, Kurt."   
  
_Since then, at an uncertain hour,   
That agony returns:   
And till my ghastly tale is told,   
This heart within me burns.   
  
I pass, like night, from land to land;   
I have strange power of speech;   
That moment that his face I see,   
I know the man that must hear me:   
To him my tale I teach.   
_  
"You can go watch the game now, I hear the Bears are actually winning. But perhaps it would be better for you to understand my tale, having heard it."   
"What's to understand?"   
"I screwed up majorly… and was forgiven. I've learned who saved me. They deserve forgivness too."   
  
_What loud uproar bursts from that door!   
The wedding-guests are there:   
But in the garden-bower the bride   
And bride-maids singing are:   
And hark the little vesper bell,   
Which biddeth me to prayer!   
  
O Wedding-Guest! this soul hath been   
Alone on a wide wide sea:   
So lonely 'twas, that God himself   
Scarce seem'ed there to be.   
  
O sweeter than the marriage-feast,   
'Tis sweeter far to me,   
To walk together to the kirk   
With a goodly company!—   
  
To walk together to the kirk,   
And all together pray,   
While each to his great Father bends,   
Old men, and babes, and loving friends   
And youths and maidens gay!   
  
_Evan got up. "I have to go. Remember me, Kurt."   
Kurt jumped up. "No! Stay, talk to za Professor, to Ororo…"   
Evan shook his head. "I'm sorry, Kurt. But I must leave."   
"But who saved you?"   
"The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Wanda and Lance and Tabitha and Todd."   
Kurt stared in shock.   
  
_Farewell, farewell! but this I tell   
To thee, thou Wedding-Guest!   
He prayeth well, who loveth well   
Both man and bird and beast.   
  
He prayeth best, who loveth best   
All things both great and small;   
For the dear God who loveth us,   
He made and loveth all.   
  
_Evan swiveled and ran, with surprising speed, down the hall. Kurt didn't follow. Instead, he turned and walked to the Professor's study.   
  
_The Mariner, whose eye is bright,   
Whose beard with age is hoar,   
Is gone: and now the Wedding-Guest   
Turned from the bridegroom's door. _

Lance and his friends were leaving Xavier's study, wondering how to explain to Magneto where they had been, when Kurt Wagner burst in.   
"This is hardly the time, Kurt," said Xavier. "Please wait a minute outside."   
"Zis cannot wait a minute, Professor." Kurt gasped. "You need to listen to me."   
"Very well. Please wait while I escort Lance and his companions outside."   
"No! This is about them. It's… it's… I don't think I can say it, Professor."   
Xavier nodded and put his hands to Kurt's head. Both of their expressions went blank. The Brotherhood stared.   
After five minutes, Xavier pulled away. "It is a very interesting story, Kurt. I'm quite sure that when the Brotherhood captured Evan, they took plenty of time to craft it."   
Kurt jumped up. "Vat--"   
"The Brotherhood must do something to earn my trust. A half-baked tale of chaos and starvation and thirst and dead bodies is not enough. They have tried to kill us numerous times. They are not welcome."   
Kurt stared in shock.   
Xaiver continued. "Leave now, Kurt, or you will be serving detention for one week."   
Kurt turned and left the room, amazed and appalled.   
***   
The next week, it was found that Lance Alvers, Todd Tolensky, Wanda Maximoff, and Fred Dukes had died in a tragic car accident.   
It appeared that flames had appeared and spontaneously engulfed the car. Police were baffled as to who did it.   
Pietro Maximoff, their roommate, was not available for comment.   
***   
Scott ran to Kurt's room one week later. "Mail, Kurt. Amanda says--"   
Kurt's windows were open. His stuff was missing.   
Scott looked around in confusion and saw a notecard with writing. On it, there were four verses and two words. Scott read:   
_  
He went like one that hath been stunned,   
And is of sense forlorn:   
A sadder and a wiser man,   
He rose the morrow morn.   
  
  
Goodbye… Magneto._   
  
Scott stared in confusion before sinking to the ground in shock.

AN: See y'all soon!


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